Melton v. People, 21477
| Citation | 157 Colo. 169,401 P.2d 605 |
| Decision Date | 03 May 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 21477,21477 |
| Parties | James Harold MELTON, Jr., Plaintiff in Error, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
James Harold Melton, Jr., pro se.
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Hickey, Deputy Atty. Gen., John E. Bush, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for defendant in error.
James Harold Melton, Jr., to whom we will refer as the petitioner, filed in the above entitled cause a 'Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence and to Declare the Same Null and Void.' He alleged in his motion, which was filed under the provisions of Rule 35(b), Colo.R.Crim.P., that he was arrest 'at the age of twelve years, and charged by way of Information with the crime of murder in the first degree.' He further alleged that he entered a plea of guilty and that the jury chosen to determine the degree of the crime found him guilty of second degree murder, and that he was sentenced to a term of not less than twelve years not more than life imprisonment in the state penitentiary.
The petitioner appeared pro se in the trial court upon the motion under consideration. He now appears in this court in the same manner. We have carefully studied the lengthy motion which contains much that has no relevance to the post conviction remedy made available under the provisions of the rule relied on by petitioner.
We note that the grounds upon which relief is sought are: (1) That the petitioner did not have the effective assistance of an attorney at the time of his trial on the murder charge; (2) that an involuntary confession was admitted in evidence and submitted to the jury; (3) that the jury which heard the evidence upon the issue of the degree of the crime was improperly impaneled; and (4) that the jury was illegal in that the foreman thereof assisted in the investigation of the crime wich which petitioner was charged.
The petitioner was represented upon the murder charge by a well known, capable, and experienced lawyer. The only basis upon which he relies to establish ineffective assistance of counsel appears in the record in the form of a summary by the court reporter concerning the remarks of petitioner's attorney in his opening statement to the jury. This summation is as follows:
'Mr. Johnson made an opening statement that he had not been employed in an effort to clear this boy of the charge; but that the father of the defendant had employed him merely to see that justice is done for the State first and the defendant later.'
The foregoing resume does not purport to be an exact statement of the language used by counsel. It is obviously a mere summation as interpreted by the reporter. It is important to recall that the only issue that was considered at that time was the degree of the crime, specifically, whether the offense was murder in the first degree or murder in the second degree. An attempt at this point to 'second guess' the effectiveness of the approach of counsel for the petitioner in making a statement to the jury, which the reporter summarized in the manner indicated, is not warranted in view of the outcome of the trial.
Upon collateral attack of a judgment on the basis that a person was denied effective assistance of counsel, the test is well stated in Keller v. Tinsley (10th Cir.), 335 F.2d 144, at page 146:
'But be this as it may, the circumstances relief...
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Bean v. State
...People v. Brooks, 48 Cal.Rptr. 879, 410 P.2d 383 (Cal.1966); Torres v. People, 159 Colo. 254, 411 P.2d 10 (1966); Melton v. People, 157 Colo. 169, 401 P.2d 605 (1965); State v. Calhoun, 194 Kan. 378, 399 P.2d 886 (Kan.1965); Hicks v. Hand, 189 Kan. 415, 369 P.2d 250 (Kan.1962); Loftis v. St......
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Peterson v. Timme
...App. 2001) citing C.R.Cr.P. 35(c)(3).A motion for postconviction relief must allege ultimate facts with particularity. Melton v. People, 157 Colo. 169, 401 P.2d 605 (1965), cert. denied 382 U.S. 1014, 86 S. Ct. 624, 15 L. Ed. 2d 528 (1966). Thus, "a defendant need not set forth the evidenti......
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Melton v. Patterson
...petitioner was given the benefit of the lesser of two charges submitted to the jury and hence was not prejudiced. See Melton v. People, 157 Colo. 169, 401 P.2d 605 (1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 1014, 86 S.Ct. 624, 15 L. Ed.2d 528 The underlying facts bearing on this most tragic incident ar......
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Section 16 CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS - RIGHTS OF DEFENDANT.
...to sustain a collateral attack against the conviction upon the theory of denial of effective assistance of counsel. Melton v. People, 157 Colo. 169, 401 P.2d 605 (1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 624, 86 S.Ct. 624, 15 L. Ed. 2d 528 (1966). To prove a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel,......
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Crim. P. 35(c): Colorado Law Regarding Postconviction Relief
...945 (Colo. 1974). 8. People v. Crawford, 515 P.2d 631 (Colo. 1973). 9. Hooker v. People, 477 P.2d 376 (Colo. 1970). 10. Melton v. People, 401 P.2d 605 (Colo. 1965). 11. White v. District Court, 766 P.2d 632 (Colo. 1988). 12. DeBaca v. District Court, 431 P.2d 763 (Colo. 1967). 13. People v.......